The Trouble with Firewhisky
by LuckyDuck711
Summary: When Hogwarts alum Kate has a little too much to drink one night, she gets more than she bargained for... an old enemy for a husband.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! Just a couple quick things I want to say first: 1) A few of my favorite characters died in the final book but I loved them so much that I wanted them to be part of my story, so there may be a few characters in here that should really be dead. None of them are very central characters, though, so it shouldn't make that much of a difference. 2) Also, I'm not sure if this idea has been done before, but I think I've got a fresh take on it, so I wanted to give it a try. 3) Disclaimer: Sadly, I'm not J.K Rowling, so I don't own anything here. 4) Please review, it would be much appreciated :)

The Trouble with Firewhisky

Kate sighed as she attempted to smooth out the wrinkles from her lavender robe. She'd pulled another eighteen-hour shift at her job at the Ministry of Magic and she was not in the mood to do anything but go home and relax. She had an unbelievably boring position in the Department of Magical Transportation and hoped to high heaven that she wouldn't be working there for the rest of her life. She made her way through the throngs of people bustling everywhere, hearing snippets of conversation about everything from the Holyhead Harpies to what size cauldron is best for brewing Pepper-Up Potion. Try as she might, she couldn't stave off the feeling of loneliness that began to creep over her.

Kate had graduated from Hogwarts five years before and she had a decent job, but there had been so much loss because of you-know-who and, even though he was gone now, she couldn't believe how much death and destruction he had brought forth… and how quickly people would recuperate. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more angry she became. She pushed open the doors viciously and thought of how quickly people had moved on. People that she had cared about died, and yet, just today Lee Jordan from the British and Irish Quidditch Department on the seventh floor had invited her to a Puddlemere United party. What were they thinking?!

By the time she reached the floo network, she was at her boiling point. She felt alone and angry. She popped into the fire, but instead of heading directly to her dim, unwelcoming flat, she stopped abruptly in the Hog's Head. She knew she would love nothing more than a couple of pints, even though that would make her appear more pathetic than she really was. She wanted to go home, curl up, and see if her friends Emma or Lindsay could chat, but she knew they had to be pretty busy. Emma was setting up her new apartment and planning her wedding to Fred Weasley and Lindsay was already 6 months pregnant and had plenty of other things to worry about. Kate had no one. She had been so absorbed in work and the Order, that she hadn't had time for anyone romantically. With a stab of defiance, she pushed the door open and entered the pub.

It was smoky and slightly seedy, but it wasn't a malicious feeling place and she had been here enough times before. There were hardly any customers, just an old witch in the corner and an already inebriated blonde wizard at the end of the bar, but she supposed it would fill up as the night went on. She glanced at her watch—3:30 *pathetic* she thought, but she didn't even think about stopping as she plopped herself at the bar.

"Butterbeer," Kate mumbled as the barkeeper made his way over.

"Rough day?" He asked, but she was in no mood to talk.

"You have no idea." She replied dryly.

"Better make that a firewhisky, then." He replied.

She didn't object to the large glass of firewhisky that was placed between her palms. Little did she know that this simple act would change her life forever.

Kate awoke with a start. She was painfully aware of the sun shining brightly in her face and also the sharp stabbing from the base of her skull which told her with each jab that she had drank far too much the previous night. She groaned, rolled over, and pulled the satin comforter closer around her. And with a jolt realized that she had a cotton comforter. _Shit_ was all she could think. _Where am I and what did I do last night?_ She cautiously peeked her eyes open and was greeted with a completely unfamiliar emerald and black room… and a very muscular, very male form behind her. She gave out a startled shriek and desperately tried to remember what had happened last night. She wasn't one to have a one-night-stand and she knew that what was about to happen would be extremely awkward and humiliating. The form shifted and finally reminded her of her state of dress, or lack thereof.

"Wha?" A voice behind her croaked and she grabbed the covers and shot like a bullet to the opposite side of the bed.

She couldn't believe her eyes— He was much skinnier and his shaggy platinum hair hung in his eyes, but there was no denying who he was— Draco Malfoy. The bane of her entire educational training was lying next to her, naked as the day he was born. Kate hadn't known him very well when they were at Hogwarts, but from the interactions they did have, she knew he was a prick-but a gorgeous prick, she had to admit. She didn't have a clue how she would have gotten into this situation.

He also seemed to be shocked because he shot up and out of bed, pulling a pillow to keep himself covered.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He spat, glaring at her.

"I don't know, what am I doing here? You obviously got me drunk so you could… have your way with me!"

"Have my way with you?! Don't flatter yourself. Are you quite sure that it wasn't you who got me drunk? Don't pretend you haven't had a crush on me since First Year at Hogwarts! I've seen you stare at me!" He spouted with vigor and Kate was ashamed to realize that she was blushing profusely.

"Don't you dare blame this on me!" She yelled and thrust out her left pointer finger with a vengeance, but before she could say anything else, she noticed that something was horribly wrong. There was a strange weight encircling her fourth finger and a gentle glint in the sunlight. With horror she saw that her left ring finger, usually left unadorned, was now encircled in a slim silver band with two emeralds and a diamond.

"Merlin!" Kate exclaimed while Draco let out a bit more colorful language as he noticed the tell-tale little circle of silver.

"No. It's not possible! I'd never, even in a drunken state, marry a mudblood!" Draco said unconvincingly.

"YOU?! Well I'd never, even in a drunken state, marry a complete asshole!" Kate shot back, angrily clutching the sheet.

"Get out of my bed and get dressed. We'll go straighten this out right now. We couldn't have gotten... married. This could all be a mistake!" He gagged on the word_ married_.

"Don't you order me around!" Kate yelled, "And fine! It's not like I _want_ to be married to scum like you!"

They glared at each other, breathing heavily for several seconds trying to refrain from clobbering each other.

"Turn around!" Kate finally ordered.

Draco smirked meanly, "What, you think I haven't already seen everything anyway?"

Kate launched a pillow that hit him square in the face and he stalked out of the room without another word.

She quickly ran her hand over her face. What was she going to do? But she felt that damnable cool piece of metal against her and she scowled at it. She dressed quickly and subtly noted that he had a very nice room, even if he was an asshole.

When she left the room, she found Draco lounging on the couch, but he jumped up immediately.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the door, "The ministry to see the records. They'll be able to tell us if... well, come on."

"Don't touch me."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry, sir, but the records aren't open on weekends." The snotty, purple-haired witch behind the counter said, not even bothering to glance up as she blew on her nails to dry them.

"You don't understand! This is a _serious _emergency!" Draco stressed throwing Kate a disgusted once-over.

"_Please_!" Kate tried in her most pitiful voice, "You have no idea how much I need to see those records!"

Purple hair finally glanced up and put on her monotonous voice again, "I'm sorry, but the records-"

"FORGET IT!" They both yelled and immediately glared at each other.

"What are we going to do now?" Kate asked as they made their way out the doors and onto the sunny street.

"_We_?! I'm sorry, _we_ are not going to do anything!" Draco spat, "I happen to be very busy and I don't have the time to sit around and wonder what sort of mistakes I made when I was drunk."

"Well, it's not like I'm thrilled with this situation, either! I just thought that maybe for once you could drop your egotistical jackass persona and act like an actual human being!" Kate snapped, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and jabbing her finger viciously in Draco's direction.

Draco took a deep irritated breath, "I'll stop here Monday morning and check myself. I'll just send you an owl or something and we'll have this whole thing cleared up by tea time." Without waiting for her answer, he turned and began stalking away.

"Fine by me!" Kate yelled defiantly and whipped around to head in the opposite direction. She was in desperate need for some chocolate and female bonding.

* * *

"You WHAT?!" Emma exclaimed, dropping the paintbrush in her hand.

"Scourgify," Kate flicked her wand at the crimson puddle rapidly forming on the floor and flopped onto the sheet-covered couch, "I'm not positive, but I've got this sick feeling at the pit of my stomach… and he was such an ass about it!"

Emma let out a small laugh and hugged her, "well, he _is _an ass, so you have to expect that he'd act accordingly. Don't worry about it! Admit it, though, you could have done a lot worse in the looks department. Ow!" Kate jabbed her wand at Emma's ribs; she just didn't need to be reminded of that fact. She could be married to the hottest guy in the world, but if he was irritating, chauvinistic, and mean, what good was he?!

"EM, WHERE'S THE EXTRA CANARY CREAMS?!" Fred yelled from down the stairs. Emma and Fred had moved in to the apartment above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes a week previous and Kate could see that her friend was already starting to regret it.

"THEY'RE IN THE BACK! BEHIND THE FANGED FRISBEES!" Emma yelled back and added to Kate, "he's a sad, lonely, self-important jerk. Don't. Worry. About. It. Let's bake something, that'll make you feel better! We'll make some pink and blue cookies and take them to Lindsay. I'm sure she's dying for some company; Oliver means well, but he can be so stifling."

"EM, THEY AREN'T BEHIND THE HEADLESS HATS!" Fred yelled again.

Emma sighed deeply and yelled, "THE FANGED FRISBEES! NOT HEADLESS HATS!"

A pause, then, "OH! LOVE YOU!"

Emma laughed, "SAME TO YOU!" and pulled Kate up from the couch, "What am I going to do with him?!"

* * *

Monday morning came without any word from Malfoy; Kate had spent the remainder of her weekend helping Emma and Fred paint the apartment and she had a lunch date with Lindsay the very next afternoon. She'd hardly thought about Draco and was actually feeling cheerful.

"Hey, Lee!" She smiled as she got into the elevator, seeing Lee Jordan again.

He looked somewhat startled, "'Lo. I… were you alright on Friday? You seemed kindof… down."

The elevator lurched to a stop on floor three and Kate felt like she had been doused with a bucket of ice water as she saw a familiar platinum-blonde form step on to join them. Kate was suddenly aware that she was standing quite close to Lee and Draco cocked an eyebrow. She hoped he would just ignore them and think about how great his hair was. Or whatever Draco thought about.

She blushed, "Oh yeah, I was just tired. Sorry I didn't come to your party."

"It's alright, I thought maybe I had done something wrong." He laughed nervously, "You know, I, ah, I just got a promotion so I've got to go to a lot of Quidditch games and events. Maybe, if you're not too busy, you would want to come to the next one? I mean, it's usually pretty fun even though it's for work." She could tell he was trying hard to read her. She could also tell that Draco was paying a great deal of interest to their conversation. She was determined not to let him ruin what could be a good thing with Lee, but she also couldn't escape the fact that she felt really awkward flirting with someone in front of Draco.

"Of course, that sounds like fun! Just let me know when the next one is." _Can't this elevator go any faster?!_

Lee apparently did not notice the tension and beamed as the elevator announced floor seven, "Brilliant! I'll see you later, then."

She smiled as the elevator doors closed. Lee was incredibly sweet and not too shabby-looking at all; maybe she could put this whole mess behind her and have a shot with Lee. Draco cleared his throat.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, I didn't say anything." He sneered and as a blessing, the elevator announced floor 10 1/2 and she practically ran to get out.

The day seemed to crawl by as she tried to get her work done. On one hand, she was excited that Lee seemed to be interested in her. But it was hard to get too happy about that when she remembered that she could possibly be a married woman. Finally around ten, an ordinary-looking paper airplane zoomed in and landed at her elbow.

_"We are. Floor ten at 11:30."_

_Amazing_ Kate thought, _Even in his notes he's domineering and condescending._ It appeared she was going to have to face Draco once again and try to get an annulment. She sent up a silent prayer that things would go smoothly and this would be the last time she would have to see him. Unfortunately, it seemed luck was not on her side.


	3. Chapter 3

"We better make this quick," Kate announced as soon as she saw Draco standing outside the entrance to the legal headquarters of the English wizarding world.

He raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything and they approached the front desk together. Papers were flying and scores of wizards were rushing around in the offices behind. The wizard behind the main desk was barking orders at three different quills and it looked like he was about to explode.

"We need a marriage annulment." Draco demanded of the flustered wizard. Kate felt sorry for the gentleman because he looked genuinely shocked at Draco's rudeness. He looked pointedly at them and then to the ensuing chaos surrounding them.

"I'm sorry, _sir_, but our courts do not have time for petty _mistakes _at the moment-"

"We need it _now_!"

"_Sir_, do you realize that we have just ended a particularly grueling and horrific war?! We have many other problems to clear up before we can see to your… situation. I'm afraid the soonest we could hear your case would be," He glanced quickly at a calendar and finished, "January 4th."

Both of their jaws dropped simultaneously, but it was Kate's turn to be outraged, "But that's in three _months_!"

But the wizard resumed his screaming at the quills.

"Great. Just fucking great. What are we going to do now?" Draco fumed once they had reached the main floor of the ministry again.

"Oh, so _now_ there's a 'we'. I don't know, Malfoy. I just don't know. All I know is that I want to go home and sleep. I'm getting a terrible headache and I just need to think." Kate said, moving over towards the large fireplaces lining the room. For once _she_ was happy to be the one to walk away from _him_.

* * *

"It's really _not _that funny!" Kate insisted as Lindsay erupted into giggles and had to physically grab hold of the table in front of her to keep her seated. They were sitting on the patio of The Leaky Cauldron letting the bright sun shine down on them, conflicting with the growing gray cloud on Kate's mood.

"It really is!" Lindsay managed to gasp.

"You have to help me! I don't know what I'm going to do!" Kate rubbed her temples for about the ninth time that day.

"Well, what _can_ you do? Just ignore him and go in again in January to get it all fixed… that is unless, you want to _stay _married to him. You know, he isn't that shabby looking—" Lindsay said, fishing for Kate's real thoughts on the matter.

"He's a conceited idiot! We've established that! Why would I _want _to stay married to him?! I mean, he _is_… good looking," Kate blushed here, remembering just how much of him she saw the morning after, "I guess I'll have to just ignore him. It's just really frustrating that I'm in this situation."

Lindsay looked like she was about to say more, but the waitress arrived with their checks and she began digging in her purse for the galleons she knew were lurking somewhere at the bottom.

"I know it's frustrating, but—" Lindsay began when Kate heard her name shouted from the direction of the crowded bustling street.

"Lee?!" Kate exclaimed, slightly embarrassed by the slight flip her stomach did when her eyes locked on his.

"How are you?" He said, making his way over and leaning suavely against the railing next to their table.

"I'm great! Just lunching with my friend Lindsay," she said, gesturing to her bemused friend, "How about you?"

"Well, I'm actually really happy I ran into you, I won tickets to the Weird Sisters' concert on Saturday and I heard through the grapevine that you were a fan. Do you want to come?"

"Really?! Wow! I'd love to! I absolutely adore the Weird Sisters!" Kate exclaimed, feeling a slow blush creep up her cheeks.

"Great! Um… I guess I'll see you at the office then!" He said, nervously running his hands through his curly locks.

"Yeah! See you!"

Kate tried to keep a natural expression as she waved and turned back to her table. Lindsay raised an eyebrow.

"What?! Don't give me that look! He's just a friend!"

"Right. A really gorgeous 'friend' who just asked you out!"

"He didn't ask me out! It's just a friend attending an entertainment event with another friend!"

"Uh-huh. Besides, aren't you a married woman now?" Lindsay joked, but the effect was like a cold bucket of water on Kate's heart.

"I'd better get back to work," She sighed, "Apperation tests are in full swing and there's no telling how many stupid kids are going to get splinched."

"Well, drop by if you can. Ollie isn't even letting me wash dishes anymore, so I haven't got much to do. He's got a game against the Harpies, though, next Wednesday, if you want to join me."

"Ok, I'll see how work is going," Kate said standing up and helping her very pregnant friend do the same, "Thanks listening to my drama."

"Any time. Just don't think about it too much. A lot of girls would die to be in your position!"

Kate sighed deeply again and muttered, "Whatever you say."

* * *

As Kate entered the elevator Thursday morning, she was greeted with the sight of the person she least wanted to see. How many awkward elevator rides was she going to have to endure with this man?! Draco noticed her as well, but they both averted their eyes. She hadn't seen him since they got their ill-fated marriage sentence and she wasn't too keen on fighting senselessly anymore. Kate then recognized the chatter of Pansy Parkinson to his left and rolled her eyes. Draco didn't seem to be enjoying the yammering either, and he briefly made eye contact with Kate.

"…Draco? Draco are you listening?" Pansy asked in her high-pitched grating voice.

"No." Draco mumbled under his breath.

Kate couldn't help herself and let out a small laugh. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

Pansy let out a nervous laugh, "_Draco_, you're always such a kidder!" Kate gave Draco a wry look.

"I wasn't kidding," Draco countered, this time keeping eye contact with Kate and smirking slyly, "I couldn't care less about what you're saying, Parkinson."

Pansy looked startled at Kate and then back to Draco. She tried a fake and rather worried smile.

Just then, the elevator announced level nine and Draco and Pansy started forward. Then, to Kate's surprised Draco turned back, gave her a very obvious once-over, and murmured, "Jennings."

Kate practically choked on her tongue. Was he _flirting_ with her?! She felt her cheeks flush and her eyes widen. The last sight she saw before the elevator door slid closed was a grinning Malfoy and a completely flabbergasted Pansy.

A/N: I just wanted to say two things really quickly! 1) If you're reading this story and you like it, or even if you don't, please review and let me know. I would love to know what you like or what I can work on! 2) If things seem like they are moving a little slow, the next chapter really gets things moving and even has Draco's POV :) Again, please review; thank you!


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